"Ryan are you here?" There was no answer. "Ryan?" she called again. Before she could say another word, an am grabbed around her waist and a wet, soapy hand covered her mouth, pulling her into the kitchen.
She let out screams but they were only muffled. So she started to kick.
"Sharpay stop it" Ryan almost yelled. "You're gonna get us in trouble."
Sharpay stopped and pushed Ryan from her. "Don't scare me like that again! You had me thinking you were Dad." She wiped her mouth and had a look of disgust on her face. "What are you doing anyway?"
Ryan walked over to the sink and picked up a dish he had previously been washing. "I'm trying not to get in trouble, that's what. You coming here yelling isn't helping at all. You're gonna wake Dad up. He just went to sleep."
"Wait, you've been here all night?"
He nodded. "That's right. See, after you left, I went to handle Dad myself."
"Ryan!" she hit his arm. "That's dangerous!"
"Eh, not so much," he shrugged. "It was pretty easy. No let me rephrase that, it wasn't so much easy. But it was better cause you weren't in the house."
"What happened after I left? Did he notice?"
"Nope. Didn't know you were gone. But it doesn't matter anymore. It's over, it's a new day."
Sharpay pulled out a chair and sat down. Ryan looked at her.
"Where'd you go last night?"
"Bolton's place."
Ryan placed the dish in the drying rack then turned to look at her, leaning against the sink crossing his arms. "So tell me what's up?"
"What do you mean?"
"For a girl who just spent the night at her crush's house, you seem pretty bummed."
"So I'm supposed to be jumping for joy that I slept with Troy?"
Ryan's eyes widened at the remark. "You what?" Sharpay raised her hand in the air, as if the silence him. "Don't even go there, Ry. Nothing happened between us. So calm down."
He eyed her. "Mmhm, right."
"It's the truth!" she yelled.
"Okay Shar, whatever you say."
She sighed and rolled her eyes. "You know what?" Ryan looked at her. "Never mind. I'm gonna be upstairs." She got up from the chair and went upstairs the back way.
On her way to her room, she came across the familiar face she knew as her dad. Sharpay froze where she was a looked at her dad.
"Hey Sharpay," he dad gave a friendly smile.
"Hey Dad, did I wake you?"
He shook his head. "No sweetie, you didn't."
"Then maybe you should go back to bed if you're still tired." Point was, she didn't feel like dealing with her dad at 9:00 in the morning.
"That's okay. I'm up now," he rubbed his eyes. "I have to get ready for a meeting anyway."
Her father took a step and Sharpay took a step back. He took another, she backed back.
"What's wrong Shar?"
"Nothing Dad."
"You sure?"
"Yeah," she nodded quietly. "I'm positive."
He looked at her. "Okay then. I'll be home later tonight. You and Ryan can order a pizza or you can go out, if you chose to do so."
"Okay," she nodded again.
The father smiled, walking towards her. He kissed the top of Sharpay's head and walked away, She walked to her room and collapsed on the bed.
"Come on," Troy said coming back through the gate. "Let's finish this so we can do something else."
"Troy!" Zeke yelled. "How could you man?!"
Troy gave him a confused look. "What are you talking about? How could I what?"
"How could you sleep with Sharpay? You know how much I like her."
He sighed. "Who said I slept with her?"
"Then how come she came out of your house… with your clothes?" Chad asked.
"She was just in my house.. with my clothes. So what?!"
"So what nothing!" Jason yelled. "You slept with Sharpay! Of all people!"
"Hey!" Troy and Zeke said. They looked at each other. "There's nothing wrong with Shar," he concluded.
"We're supposed to take your word for it?" Chad asked.
"Leave Troy alone," Gabriella said. "If he says he didn't do anything, then he didn't do anything."
"Exactly," Troy said. "Why would I lie about something like this? Nothing happened."
The guys looked at each other. Troy looked at them. "If you don't believe me then… just forget about it." He went inside. Gabriella followed him.
Jason shook his head. "There's something going on with Troy. If you haven't noticed, Sharpay has been hanging around him a lot."
"Well she does like him," Kelsi said.
"Don't say that!" Zeke said.
"It's true."
"But do you think I wanna hear that? I'm out." Zeke left.
"How could they think I slept with Shar?!" Troy sat on his couch and ran his fingers through his hair. Gabriella sat next to him.
"Don't let them get to you," she said. "They're just confused. They don't know what to think."
"Talk about majorly confused. Shar's just my friend."
"I believe you Troy," she put her hand on his shoulder. Troy smiled at her a little. "Thanks."
She smiled back. "But why was Sharpay here?"
"Something happened at home. So she came to me."
"You're a good friend."
He smiled. "I try to be." She smiled and kissed his cheek.
"What was that for?" Gabriella shrugged, still smiling. "Just because."
"Well thank you much."
"You're welcome."
She laid her head on Troy's shoulder. He smiled and kissed the top of her head.